Visitors say Colombo city better than New York city : Defence Ministry official
View(s):By Quintus Perera
The regeneration of urban development of Metro-Colombo region is making the Colombo city a ‘green haven’ and to prove it, Rohan Seneviratne, Additional Secretary, Technical, Ministry of Defence and Urban Development, — at a Colombo event recently, gave examples of well developed areas like the Independent Square, Galle road, well-done pavements, etc.
Making a presentation on ‘Current and Future Urban Regeneration Programmes for the Metro-Colombo Region’, this week, Mr Seneviratne congratulated the UDA for this work noting that some visitors to the city have indicated that Colombo is looking better than New York city.
However, other residents say it appears the government is moving away from the cherished virtues of a good governance of service, welfare and protecting the rights of the people, and moving to a profit base development where properties of shanty dwellers are taken over and sold for commercial purposes.
Mr Seneviratne said, “There are 68,500 under-served settlements in Colombo – so we wanted to give them better houses and at the same time we want to liberate these most valuable land located in most important areas. There are 600 acres of land. The land is worth about Rs 7 to 8 million per perch.” They would be given better housing apartment of 400 sq ft in high rise buildings. Construction of these buildings has already begun.
In this manner once these 600 acres are liberated the government would be making a gigantic profit on the basis of 600 x 160 x Rs 8 million. These lands are to be sold to developers and investors for commercialization. Mr Seneviratne also accused shanty dwellers of being involved in illegal activities.
The Government would be acquiring any land that could be put to commercial purpose and already action is taken to clear the lands that occupy the three armed forces (headquarters) and the military will move to Akuregoda where building construction has already begun on a 60 acre plot of land.
He said that even historical heritage buildings would be rehabilitated to be more modern in character and already the Old Dutch Hospital is well rehabilitated. This is a popular place now.
Urban governance is the key to urban development, he said. However not only in Sri Lanka but local bodies in the region are very poor, Mr Seneviratne quipped.
The most important parameter of a city, he said, is its livability, which is based on three fundamentals such as the high quality of life; competitive economy and the sustainable environment. He said that they are converting Colombo to a dynamic and a liveable city with the aspirations of an upper middle-income Sri Lanka.
He said that in Colombo city there was poor waste management and they were able to put a stop to it and today the garbage disposal activities go on smoothly, making the city a clean one. Earlier it was the problem of management, he said. Hawkers were blocking the pavements and now they have been cleared. Mr Seneviratne said that now people can walk freely which contributed to less road accidents. He said that they are addressing all the problems in Colombo and solutions to them are worked out.
During the question time, Victor Unantenne, a former Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration, pointed out that the on-going process lacked people’s participation to address their real problems.
He said that there should be a tripartite communication system, including the rate-payers and the local body. He pointed out that the present exercise appeared to be futile as the citizens’ problems are not solved and their needs are not met. He pointed out that some road stretches that are in good condition are re-carpeted over and over again while some roads are not repaired for about 15 years reducing them to worse than cart roads.
In response, Mr Seneviratne sternly said; “We do not give a single cent to (municipal) councils. The entire money is with the project management unit under my supervision. I am the project manager. We do all the payments. The entire financial management is in our hands. The entire contracting system is by us. The evaluation, tender process everything is done by us. Municipal Councils are there just to support us.”
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